The Gift
by BabyKay47
Summary: Where did the wolf pieces that Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel wear come from? Set preAC, but before Cloud contracts Geostigma and abandons Tifa to take care of the children alone.


**T**ifa always worried when Cloud returned to the bar late. Most evenings he would make it home in time to share dinner with her and the children, and then tuck them into bed. But if he knew that he was going to be late, he would always call and tell her not to wait up for him, but when she had put the children to bed, she would stay awake tending the books, or cleaning; there was always something that needed to be done that she didn't get a chance to while taking care of two children during the day.

But she never made a big deal of his coming back. She would ask him how the routes were, and tell him that she'd left a plate for him to heat up in the refrigerator, and then she would tell him goodnight. It pained her to have to pretend that she didn't want to rush into his arms and hold him. She didn't want to have to repress the relief she felt when she saw that he was back and safe and sound. She hated to contain the excitement she felt every time he would look at her with those Mako blue eyes. But she was even more afraid to upset the delicate balance of their relationship. She didn't want to ruin what they had by asking for more. And if there was never more than the companionship, and complete trust, and the understanding that he would always be there for her no matter what, would that be such a terrible thing? Tifa tried to convince herself that it would not be.

One evening he called and said that he wasn't sure that he would be able to make it home that night. He told her not to worry, and just go to bed. Like she usually did, she ignored him and stayed up figuring out what new supplies she needed to order since she was running out some things, and yet completely unable to get rid of others. When she had finished that task it was almost one, and Cloud still wasn't home. She tried to go to bed, but she could only toss and turn, so she grabbed a book and went into the bar to sit and read. Soon her exhausted body got the better of her, and she was asleep, with her book making an uncomfortable pillow.

Her head snapped up the moment she heard someone fiddling with his keys at the door. She quickly wiped away at the drool that had run down her face and smeared the ink on the pages of the book as Cloud opened the door. He looked up from the doorway, surprised to see her.

"I told you not to wait up for me." He sighed, walking in and closing the door behind him.

"I wasn't waiting up for you," she lied. "I was reading."

Cloud regarded her with an unconvinced gaze, but didn't press her. "Well, since you're up, there's something I'd like to give you."

It was then that Tifa noticed that Cloud was caring a package. It wasn't very big, so she didn't think it was some sort of supply. Getting up, she walked towards him, extending her hand to reach out for the package. "Is this it?" she asked him.

Cloud nodded. Relinquishing his hold on the package, he turned around and went straight to the refrigerator. "Open it," he told her as he grabbed his plate and a bottle of beer. "Mmm…you made lasagna. I'm starving!"

Tifa set the package on the counter, and examined the outer wrapping. It was just brown paper, but it had a return address on it. "You only went to Kalm today? I wonder what took you so long to get back—" _Home,_ she wanted to say. But she wasn't sure that he considered the bar home the way she did.

"And Mideel…and I managed to get seasick on the ferry from the main continent to the island."

"Oh, no! I didn't think you got motion sickness anymore." When Cloud had been younger he used to get seasick, airsick, carsick, just as badly as Yuffie had. But when he'd been doused with Mako he thought the problem had been eliminated. Apparently not.

"I thought so, too. It was horrible—remind me not to make fun of Yuffie anymore, okay?" He grinned ruefully.

"I will." Tifa smiled in return. Then she began to unwrap the package, careful not to rip the paper as if she were a surgeon doing open heart surgery. "So why did you bring back a package from Kalm, and why am I opening it?"

Cloud grabbed his food out of the microwave and sat down on the counter beside her. "It's a gift." He blushed slightly. "Sometimes I do my services gratis. Since I was down there in Mideel already, and had already gotten paid, I figured I could bring back something for someone. It was a lady. And she barely had enough money to buy a sandwich at the shop I was at. You know that Mideel hasn't ever really been the same ever since it was destroyed by the Lifestream, right? She was just this thin slip of a girl with these big green eyes that seemed to swallow her whole face. So when she overheard that I did deliveries, and asked that I go to Kalm to deliver something for her, I couldn't refuse. She tried to pay me, but I wouldn't let her. Anyway, the guy that I gave her stuff to, he got really emotional when he saw who the package was from, and he wouldn't let me leave without taking something from his shop. He made his own jewelry and he let me pick out what I wanted." After all her painstaking deliberation, she'd finally gotten the paper off, and found a rectangular shaped jewelry box. Her breath caught when she opened it and saw two silver rings with the head of a wolf, a matching pendant, and one wolf-shaped earring. "I saw one of the rings and I thought you might like it. When I told him who it was for, he insisted that I take the matching pieces as well. He said that they were a family and they belonged together." Who it was for indeed. Did that mean that Cloud saw her as his family?

"Cloud, they're beautiful," she whispered.

"I told him I thought your finger was about this big," he explained to her, wrapping his thumb and forefinger around the tip of the pinky of his other hand, "so I'm sorry if it doesn't fit."

Tifa pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. It fit perfectly. She felt tears pricking her eyes and tried to hide them by not looking up at Cloud. He stared at her as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately did not, and only went back to eating his food.

"What are you going to do with the other pieces?" Tifa asked after a few moments of silence.

"Well, they're yours," he stated matter-of-factly.

Tifa was stunned by his generosity. "I can't take them all! I wasn't the one who drove all the way to Mideel and back and got seasick in the process."

Setting down his fork, he seemed to process what she said. He mulled over possible responses in order to explain why it was important to him that she keep all of the pieces. "Maybe not, but you…take care of me," he finally uttered, softly, sincerely. "You make me dinner every night, and you worry about me, which can't be easy. I just think that you deserve something for that." _Although you deserve much more than I can give you, _Cloud thought dejectedly.

Although by no means eloquent, his words moved her. "Thank you, Cloud. This means so much to me. But..." She finally looked up at him and her breath caught in amazement at the tenderness in his eyes. It made her heart race in excitement and hope that maybe he felt the same way she did. "But I don't need a few pieces of jewelry, or even a thousand," she finally continued. "All I need is to know that you're safe." They continued to look deeply into each other's eyes, slowly drawing closer together until their faces were only inches apart.

Cloud wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He'd dreamt of it more than once—how soft her lips would be, and what she'd taste like. But what if she regretted it? What if things became awkward between them? He couldn't risk it. Breaking their intense gaze, Cloud said, "Maybe we should give the kids one."

Tifa abruptly pulled away, hoping that she hadn't given away her feelings too much. "That's a good idea."

"Then tomorrow morning we'll let them choose." Remembering Tifa's sleepy state when he walked in, he gently prodded her to go to bed. "You should get some sleep," he told her.

She nodded jerkily and then made her way into her room before any tears could fall. She sat down on her bed and stared at her hand, where the ring nestled comfortably on a knuckle. Why did it hurt so much that he didn't kiss her when it was obvious that he cared about her enough to get her such a beautiful ring?

Because she knew she wanted more. But every day it seemed more and more impossible.

The next day Denzel picked out the other ring, and when it didn't fit because it was too big, Tifa offered to put it on a chain for him. That left the pendant and earring for Marlene, and since she didn't have her ears pierced, she thought that Cloud should wear it. She also told him that the pendant would look better on his uniform. When Denzel guiltily offered to give her the ring, she told him it was all right because she already had a necklace. It was the pendant Barrett had given her from Dynn. She said that one day Barrett would return, and they would be a family again, but he, Tifa and Cloud had to make a family of their own, so they should have the wolf pieces. No one could argue with her rationale.

A month later, Cloud was gone. Tifa left messages on his voicemail, but he never returned them. And whenever she looked down at the ring on her finger she was reminded of how she had almost had a family with Cloud and had lost it, like everything else in her life she cared about.

* * *

A/N: So I can't remember if anyone else wears that wolf stuff. But I know for sure that Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel do. And in my story they're the only ones that do, which makes them special. I can't figure out why Marlene wouldn't have one, though, but I thought I'd give some explanation, lame as it is.


End file.
